By Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Palpable fear of imminent clash and tension is mounting at the Onitsha Bridge Head following the refusal of the Power Tools and Allied section and the Central Bridge Head Traders Union to recognise the Chain Saw and Allied Products Dealers Association to operate in the market.
The Chain Saw and Allied Products Dealers Association is a union registered newly at the Corporate Affairs Commission and with the Bridge Head Market Traders Association during the caretaker committee chairmanship of Ambrose Osakwe.
Already, attempts by the Chain Saw Union to bring their own security into the market and also erect their signboard have met with stiff resistance by the mother union in the market.
Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Chain Saw Union, Peter Okala who raised alarm that his life was under serious threat by the Power Tools Union led by Emma Anagor said that the Constitution of the Federal Government of Nigeria gave them the right to form their own association in the market emphasizing that they followed every due process in registering the union.
He alleged that their signboard which was also registered with the Anambra Signage Agency was maliciously pulled down by their opponents while he has been marked for elimination because he dared to challenge those who wanted to rule the traders with impunity.
He said the traders under Anagor have been levied a specified amount to actualize their threat. But when contacted, he said Okala was running away from his sins of not rendering account of his stewardship when he was the chairman of the defunct Tools and Allied Market Union, noting that he wants to form a splinter union in the market with parallel security which he said is an invitation to anarchy.
The President General of Bridge Head Traders Association, Sunday Obinze, when contacted said the Okala group did not follow due process in obtaining registration during his predecessor’s tenure, hence the reason the union has not recognized them. But the immediate past Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Union, Chief Ambrose Osakwe confirmed that his leadership registered the Chain Saw Union led by Okala and that they have the full right to operate in the market.